Then things took a turn for the worse when the press involved Quinn. Reporters camped out on the lawn of the apartment building where Quinn and Julie lived, watching and waiting to get a statement.
Action had to be taken. Nikki called Steve and he notified the local police as well as sending a bodyguard from L.A. whose job was to stay by Quinn’s side until this blew over. Even though Quinn ranted about the injustice of having someone hover over her while her mother went without, Nikki insisted. “No bargaining on this one, kiddo,” she said.
“Steve is sending Dwayne.” He’d been one of Quinn’s favorite guards on tour, always happy, a reformed alcoholic who took Quinn’s abstinence seriously. She hoped Quinn would appreciate his familiar face instead of working to avoid him.
Dwayne’s report the first night indicated that the press were local, no pestering paparazzi that he could see, and everything seemed to be under control. No one was breaking the law, at least. “We’re just sitting here at Pepe’s pizza, having dinner, Ms. Burnside. I’m watching Quinn and her friend Julie eat while reporters watch them through the window.”
“Keep my baby safe, Dwayne.” Nikki clicked the cell phone shut and headed for the dock. A light shone from behind a front curtain at the Dickerson house. As she stood studying the house, the idea that the Bayer family might have been hired to watch her seemed silly now.
****
A blanket of low clouds hung over the lake, threatening rain. It was perfect timing to make a pot of chili. Nikki had been craving savory foods lately and wanted to honor what her body craved and ultimately what her baby needed.
The bodyguard was doing his job in Seattle but also driving a college girl crazy with his presence. Not much had been written about Goldy in the last few days, and there’d been no new letters from Shakespeare in nearly four weeks. Nikki considered the possibility of letting Dwayne return to Los Angeles. He had a messy custody battle with his ex-wife on the court dockets soon.
Rain bounced off the deck as Nikki snuggled into the couch with a novel. She’d just gotten settled when her cell phone rang.
“Nicole Crossland?” Gateman always asked.
“Yes.”
“This is Agent Ted Gateman of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
“Hi, Ted.”
“How are things where you are?”
This helped verify her identity. “Louisa Lake, Ted. I’m at my house at Louisa Lake.” She gave him her social security number. “Now what’s going on?”
“We got another letter.”
A jolt shot through her like she’d been slapped in the face with a wet towel. “Was it a goodbye letter?”
“Not exactly.”
“You’d better send it on.” She glanced fearfully at the computer monitor.
“My better judgment tells me to ignore your request to see all letters.”
Her hand went immediately to her belly, and her face muscles clenched. “Why do you think I shouldn’t see this one?”
“You’re alone out there.”
“Ted, I feel safer here than in Los Angeles.”
“The letter mentions Quinn in Seattle.”
The blood drained from Nikki’s face.
“Not a threat to her. It just mentions her name. And remember it’s common knowledge she’s at school in Seattle.”
“Oh, God.”
“We sent an agent to Quinn. She’s with her right now.”
“Quinn has a bodyguard, too.”
“Do you have a bodyguard, Nikki?”
“No. Did he mention my location?”
“No.”
“You know how isolated I am, and this state-of-the-art security system tells me when every chipmunk runs across my deck.”
Gateman hesitated. “You have your dog, right?”
Nikki would’ve laughed if it had been funny. “He’s a small pug mix, you know that.” She looked down at Elvis who was wagging his tail like everyone’s friend.
“The letter was mailed from Los Angeles.”
“What did he say about Quinn?”
“Not much, and the letter sounds like he’s still in L.A.”
“Send it, Ted. By email. I need to call Quinn. Hang on.” With the house phone, she punched in Quinn’s number. Hearing her daughter’s voice on the other end allowed Nikki to exhale. “Sweetie, I got a weird letter from a stalker and just as a precaution, we’ve sent over a federal agent to check on you.”
“She’s here now. I’m fine. Jarrod and I are just getting ready to go to class.”
“Just ignore her, like Dwayne.” Quinn would be trying to think of an argument, so Nikki preempted any protests she might make. “Indulge me, okay?”
“Mom?”
“Yes.”
“Are you safe?”
“I’m fine out here. You know that.” Just then the security system buzzed to indicate someone was on the property. “I’ll call you later, sweet girl.” Nikki hung up just as someone wrapped on the back door. Ted was still on the other phone. “There’s someone at my door, Ted. Hang on, I’ll read the letter in a minute.”
“Nikki, don’t open the door without…”
After looking at the video monitor, she disarmed the system and opened the door to a woman in a yellow rain slicker and a boy cowering behind her. Both were dripping wet. “Come in,” Nikki said.
The woman pushed her son inside and, grabbing the edge of the half-open door, slammed it shut behind her. “I’m Connie Bayer and this is my son, Tony.” She stood with her arm around the boy. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but there’s a squirrel in our house and while Pete is trying to take care of it, I was hoping we could wait here.”
The boy glanced from his mother to Nikki and back again, his brows knit together.
“Of course, come in.” Nikki couldn’t imagine how big and dangerous the squirrel must be to make them this frightened, but after she locked and bolted the door, she took their coats, armed the security system, and walked down the hall with her guests. The email jumped out at her from the computer screen across the room.
The boy followed his mother to the great room, where the fire crackled in the hearth. His eyes were glued to her.
“I’m Nikki.” She smiled at Connie Bayer, like this was a perfectly normal social call. “I was just going to make a cup of tea. Would you like to join me?” Her voice sounded anxious, but her distracted guests didn’t seem to notice.
“That would be nice.” The mother nodded and smiled reassuringly at the boy.
Remembering Agent Gateman, she told Ted she had company and would call him back.
“Tell me who your company is.”
“My neighbors, Connie Bayer and her son, Tony,” she whispered as she walked into the open kitchen area to start the kettle.
“Call me in twenty minutes. And Nikki, be careful.”
She promised, then hung up and filled the kettle with water.
“This is such a pretty house,” Connie commented from the far side of the great room.
“Thank you. My husband and…” She caught her slip. “I mean, my ex-husband and I built it years ago. Our daughter was ten at the time.” She smiled at them from the kitchen. “How old are you, Tony?” Before the boy answered, he checked with his mother.
“Eleven.” Connie smiled at Nikki as if to say children are funny sometimes. “He just turned eleven,” she clarified, forcing a pinched smile.
Not wanting to make Connie and Tony concoct a story they weren’t prepared for, Nikki opted to forget the squirrel and pretend it was perfectly normal to have them run down the road in the pouring rain to avoid a rodent. It was a remote possibility that Connie Bayer was terrified of small wildlife and had transferred that phobia to her son, but something told her that wasn’t the case. Something strange was going on and she had to stay out of it.
“Are you enjoying Louisa Lake?” Nikki took three mugs from the cupboard and retrieved a packet of hot chocolate from the pantry.
“Yes,” Connie answered. “Tony.” She motioned with a nod for the boy to get away from the window.
Nikki pretended not to see. “It’s rainy today, but we’ve had a nice September, haven’t we?”
“Lovely.”
“I hear your husband is a writer?”
Connie looked uncomfortable. “Computer manuals.”
“Oh, not novels and memoirs?” She laughed lightly.
“No.”
Nikki wanted to believe her. “Where were you before this?” The conversation sounded like a job interview as Nikki waited for the kettle to boil.
“New York.” Connie shifted uneasily.
“Oh, I lived in New York for a while,” Nikki said, but her guest didn’t seem to care, or hear. Nikki got the distinct impression they were hiding at her house. She poured the hot water into the teapot and carried the tea tray to the table.
“It’s a pretty house, isn’t it, Tony?” Connie said. Tony strained to look out the window from his perch on the couch.
She tried again. “Isn’t this a nice house, Tony?”
“Mom, should we check on…the squirrel and see if…Dad is ok.” He spoke in jerky spasms as he took the hot chocolate from Nikki.
“He’ll let us know.” Connie smiled at Nikki, but a moment passed between them when both women understood there was no squirrel. Nikki wasn’t sure if the secrecy was for the boy or for her, but she nodded almost imperceptibly at Connie.
Connie Bayer was in her late thirties, shorter than Nikki and bursting out of her black jeans and sweater. She had a brown curly hairdo, suggestive of a bad appointment with a far-sighted hairdresser and, without makeup, her high cheekbones and large, deep-set eyes gave her a haunted look.
Staring at her teacup, with hands clenched in her lap, Connie looked pained. Maybe she didn’t like tea. “It’s a beautiful house, isn’t it, Tony?” She had a slight accent that Nikki couldn’t place.
“Mom, you already asked me that.” Tony got up and ran his hand over the books’ edges, almost lovingly. “You have a lot of books.”
“My daughter and I like to read. How ’bout you?” Nikki leaned against the corner of the couch, hesitant to sit down.
“Yeah.” His lanky frame didn’t remind Nikki of Pete Bayer at all. Even if this was a second marriage, something didn’t quite fit.
“If you see one you like, you’re welcome to borrow it.”
“No, thanks.” Tony spoke too quickly.
Connie lifted the tea mug to her lips slowly.
Nikki sat down. “Are you spending October on the lake?’
Connie set the mug back on the table, without a sip. “I don’t think so, but we’ll see.”
“Pete’ll tell us,” Tony blurted.
Connie looked at her son disapprovingly, and he turned to face the books, hiding his embarrassment at either calling his father Pete, or talking overtop of his mother.
“It’s all right,” Nikki whispered to Connie, not sure why she said this, but the look in Connie’s eyes conveyed a trust. “Don’t worry about me.” On closer inspection she noticed that Connie’s hair was a wig—just another question mark on a page of unanswered strangeness. The edge of the wig was visible through a curl at the back.
Nikki tried to fill the gaps with chit chat while Connie kept the tea cup at her lips, looking like she was trying to keep her mouth busy in case words started to pop out.
“Nice town.” “Touristy lake.” “Days getting shorter.” Nikki’s words were stilted.
“Yes.” “Hmm.” “They are,” Connie answered.
She was about to ask Connie if they’d like to go boating some sunny day, when the boy yelled, “There’s the police!”
Nikki’s first thought was that Gateman had sent the police, but when she looked out the window, the sheriff’s car sped past Birch House, coming from the direction of Dickerson’s.
“There’s Pete…I mean, Dad.” Tony craned his neck.
Connie’s face went white and she turned to Tony with wide eyes. “Tony, get away from the window!”
“Looks like the police got the squirrel,” Nikki said. What was going on? The sheriff had been summoned to the log house. All Nikki could think of was that Pete had done something to frighten Connie and Tony, and she’d called the police.
“Was Pete in the cruiser, Connie?”
Connie looked flustered but chose that moment to return to her seat on the couch to quietly add sugar to her cup of tea.
“Did they take Pete away? Connie, you must know this looks strange.” Nikki followed and looked into her guest’s eyes. She dropped her voice to a whisper, for Tony’s sake. “Tell me what’s going on.”
A loud knock sounded at the back door. If Pete was in the squad car, who was knocking on her door? Tony rushed to his mother and shrank in to her side.
The video monitor revealed Pete at her back door. She disarmed the system and opened the door slowly. He stood on the threshold dripping wet, wearing only a clinging shirt and jeans, no coat, no shoes. “What’s going on?” she asked tentatively.
“Are Connie and Tony here?” He spoke quickly.
“Yes.” Why didn’t he know that? “Are you coming in?”
Pete’s cheeks were high with color. He shook his head. “I shouldn’t. I’m really wet. I just came to get …my family.”
“Step in so I can close the door. Why were the police here?” Nikki heard herself asking the million dollar question.
Pete looked at her strangely for a few seconds. “I didn’t see them.”
Daring him to continue to lie to her, she squinted and held her gaze. “Really?”
“Probably a routine call.” He shrugged. “I heard they cruise around checking on people in the off season.” He stepped in and closed the door. “Connie!” he called.
“We’re here, Pete.” Her voice was wobbly.
Pete’s hair hung in strings and his shirt clung to his form, giving Nikki more of a view of his physique than she wanted. She gulped and retrieved a fluffy beach towel for him. After throwing him the towel she returned to the family room. “Looks like the coast is clear.”